It’s much cheaper to draft a running back or two and have them split carries than pay $4 or $5 million to one back.

The fact Lacy has struggled to find the field only re-iterated that new philosophy.

There’s likely no position on the field that takes the type of constant damage running backs see.

The average shelf life for backs sees their play and skill diminish greatly once they hit 30.

Peterson is 32 and was coming off the worst season of his career, not counting the year he spent on the commissioner's exempt list in 2014.

The former Viking only saw action in three games in 2016 before injuring his knee against the Green Bay Packers, running for 72 yards on 37 attempts for a minuscule 1.9-yard-per-carry average.

Discounting 2014, Peterson had never had a YPC less than 4.5 or played fewer than 12 games.

While it’s true Peterson is a physical marvel, rushing for more than 2,000 yards and winning the MVP a season after tearing his ACL, there are only so many miles left on his odometer.

Peterson currently sits 16th on the all-time career rushing list, and of the 15 players ahead of him, there have only been four seasons where a player has rushed for at least 1,000 yards past their age 31 season.

Frank Gore did so this past season at age 32, while Franco Harris (33, 1983), Walter Payton (32, 1986) and Emmitt Smith (32, 2001) are the only others.

In four games with the Saints, Peterson gained no more than 33 yards or even cracked 10 carries.

That’s a lot of evidence to suggest Peterson’s time as a feature back has come to a close.

While a $3-$4 million salary might not seem like much for a player of Peterson’s pedigree, it is for a running back who is at the twilight of his career.

Anything can happen, but it might have been smarter for Peterson to retire than to slog away as second fiddle for the last year or two of his Canton-bound career.